Venomous Cure (X-Virus x Fem!Reader) UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Chapter 18 | Phantasmagoria

As we walked, I felt a strange presence. Not like Offender's, it was hungry and blood thirsty. I tried to keep my mind off of it but also see if it grew closer or if it went farther away at the same time. I realized that the presence was staying the same length away from us, making me feel paranoid. I looked at Toby, his expression was covered by his goggles and face guard, X-Virus was the same. I sighed to myself and put my hand in my satchel where my knife and syringes were just in case. After a few more minutes, I heard some kind of stammering behind us. I turned and stopped in my tracks and saw a glimpse of something that was very skinny and had claws. I didn't know what it was, but it was definitely not human. I looked at X-Virus and Toby to see if they saw the same thing. They looked a little nervous, signaling that they saw the same thing. We stared at each other for a little while until we heard a demonic and animal like growl, causing us to jump and look around. We got into a defensive stance, our backs facing each other and our weapons. Leaves crunching and grass shuffling surrounded us, this thing sure was fast. As we grew more and more cautious and paranoid, I could feel the creature grow closer. "Teeth or claws?" A gravely and demonic voice asked. I felt a shiver go up my spine and I tensed up, I felt X-Virus and Toby relax and stand up straight despite the situation. "Rake?" Toby called. I looked at him, 'Was he crazy!?' I yelped in my head. A few seconds after Toby called the creature, it came out of the bushes. I was shaken by the sight before me, the thing, Rake apparently, looked like a hairless dog or an undead and nacked man. He had large white eyes and large fangs and claws. "Tobias.. What are you doing around here?" The creature asked, it's voice growling slightly. "We're on a mission. I'm guessing you didn't know it was us?" X-Virus responded. 'I think I know what he meant by, 'you're going to see worse'...' I groaned in my head. The Rake creature shook his head, "You should return to Slender Man. I'm sure he's getting a little impatient with your absence." X-Virus gestured his hand for Rake to make an exit. Rake quickly disappeared into the shadows and we could hear him stampering away. I sighed in relief and sheathed my knife and put it back in my satchel. "That was scary..." I said in a relieved tone. Toby chuckled, "Tell me-me abo *Tic*-about it!" Toby said as he put his arms on his hips dramatically. X-Virs elbowed Toby playfully, "Alright, were almost to the corner of the border." X-Virus stated, gesturing for us to keep moving. We kept on moving, all of our anxiety leaving. I looked down to my Proxy Mark, it was very peculiar and strange. The skin was still sensitive to the touch and it had already scarred. when I touched it, it felt cold and forced shivers down my spine. I retracted my hand from my thigh and looked at it, 'Was this a good choice?' I asked myself. I felt my heart pound for an unknown reason, I felt anxiety creep up my back and into my mind. My breathing was uneven and it hitched partly everytime I took a deep breath to try and calm myself. My eyes widened as I watched blood drip down my hands, 'Where did this come from!?' I whimpered inside my subconscious. I felt like time had stopped moving, I felt frozen. I didn't know if I was still walking or if I had stopped. I looked down at my hands in terror, blood continued to drip down to the backside of my hand and drip off of my fingertips. My head was racing and I felt the virus of unneeded fear and guilt crawl inside my veins. I was shaken from my trance when I bumped into something, X-Virus and Toby. "Oh! Sorry! I didn't realize you stopped moving." I clasped my hands together apologetically. X-Virus seemed a little confused, but played it off. "It's okay, (Name). Just try to be a little more aware next time." X-Virus elbowed me jokingly, making me chuckle nervously. "We're at the border now, so all we have to do is just walk from this side to the other." X-Virus said those words like it was easy to do. Well, I guess I haven't seen everything about being a Proxy yet so I don't really have a say. "Then let's get going!" I said encouragingly. Toby laughed, "I l-like the *Tic* enthus-usasiam!" Toby complimented. And with that, we were off once again. 'What even was that? Can I even consider that a hallucination!? I'll ask Slender about it, I guess...'